The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-06-27

No portion of our State is more fertile and
beautiful than the Kennebec valley; and we
have always supposed that its people, as
would be expected Of the inhabitants of so
delectable a region, were among the happi-
est of mankind. They have always had a rep
utaton for prosperity, and its attendants, =
happiness and the faculty of prevailing
From Kennebec, oftener perhaps than from
any other county, the people of Maine have
been pleased to select their public officers.
OF thirty-three governors who have presided
over the State since the adoption of the Con-
stitution in 1920 nine, or more than one
quarter, have been citizens of Kennebec.
And II we reckon those who have held the
office since the middle of this century we
find that eight out of eighteen, or nearly one
half have come from Kennebec And if we
turn to the honorable list of Secretaries OF
State, we shall find that during the sixty
seven years that have elapsed since Maine
was erected into State, citizens of Kenne-
bee have cared for the great seal of Maine
during thirty-two. Nowhere in Maine has
citizenship been more honorable. nowhere
have citizens been oftener honored. 1t is
with surprise and pain, therefore, that we
observe indications Of lack of faith in the
pristine purity of American institutions.
such as the following from the leading news
paper of the county, the Kennebec Jour
nal:
The Obseryant cannot fail to nste that DURING
the present generation there has been an accei,
Grafton In the gradual decay of the institutions
which nave been left US by our forefathers. The
SaDDatn with It's associations, once a day of rest
ana quiet meditation marked by a general church
attendance, has been reduced to a day of pleasure
ana enjoyment, uncharacterized by former reip-
lous observance. Patriotism which stood ihe
sturdy colonlst next to his religion has slowly de-
cayed uDtll social wars are imminent at Slight
proVoeation. Civil laws are more frequently
trampled underfoot aud some have long sinci,
ceased to be executed Elections have become
the scene of fraud and conniyanee and tho ballot
the merchandise OF politicians. Society has lost
It's former purity and crime has increased out OF
PI0p@Ioni TO ne rate OF increase in population
without need OF proof.
The responsibility for the deplorable state
of affairs which it alleges, the journal laws
upon the shoulders of the foreigners. and
after calling upon the government to adopt
some measures to 'stay this decay and de-
generation" prescribes two remedies, "eith-
er some method of assimilating this foreign
horde or excluding them altogether"
Such mournful complaints might be expect
ed in Anarchist-pestered Chicago, or in Mil
waukee, or in the great city of many tongues,
the national metropolis. But in the happy
and beautiful capital of happy and beautiful
Kennebee-why should terror Of the foreign
er have seized the people there? 1t cannot
be that it has. The editor who wrote those
lines must have been in an abnormal condi-
ton. Perhaps the rains Of last week made
him unwontedly gloomy; perhaps some
hand organ musician disturbed him with
tunes almost as old as sunny Italy herself.
If such is the case we hope that the return
of sunlight viii burn away the dark clouds
from his mind and leave him as happy and
smiling as the green fields of the Kennebec,
which invite all, from whatever cline or en-
pire, to plenty and happiness.